Greetje Hein – When East Meets West – Friendship Bridge

When I read about this challenge we were in Costa Rica for our holidays. We stopped at a parking lot near the largest bridge of Costa Rica. On the statue was this explanation: This bridge is donated by the Government of the Republic of China and constructed by the Taiwan R.S.E.A. Engeneering Corporation. The construction started in 2000 and completed in 2002. The Government of the Republic of Costa Rica denominated it “Taiwan Friendship Brigde” to symbolize the fraternal ties between two nations. I took some pictures of the statue and the bridge and knew the design of my quilt.

A bridge connects east and west. This bridge symbolizes the friendship between east and west. The east part of my quilt is like the Japanese/Chinese traditional techniques, the west part more modern like the European/American techniques.

For the sky I used a piece of fabric I dyed with ice cubes. At the right side of my quilt (east) I used hand-pieced hexagons. On the left side (west) are machine pieced squares sewn on the original fabric. The bridge is fused from some leftovers from monoprinting with accents done with silver gilding paste.

For the trees I used the confetti technique: I cut green batik in small pieces and I scattered it on the background. I put black tulle over it and quilted it free motion. With a heat gun I burned some of the tulle away to get more air in the trees. The branches I did with embroidery thread and paint. The east part of the sky is hand quilted, the west part is machine quilted.

What a wonderful interpretation, Greetje! It is absolutely eye-catching. I am surprised and excited to read about the story about the bridge in Costa Rica. Thank you for making such a lovely piece. Well done!

You have made a lovely interpretation of the subject, and the techniques you have used are very clever. I especially like the way you have built up the texture for the trees, and the way you have varied the sky techniques.

About

Fifteen by Fifteen is a group of like-minded textile artists from various places throughout the world, we have come together to participate in an art quilt challenge. Our artistic styles vary, but we share a love of art quilting, the desire to learn and experiment, and most importantly share and grow. Every 8 weeks members will make a 15 x 15 inch quilt based on colour play or a theme. The results will be displayed in the Artists Gallery.